Doll



y 1935- I M. WITTMANN 2,007,784

DOLL Filed Feb. 25, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR MAE/E l V/TTMflN/V 0/ATTORN Y5 July 9, 1935.

M. WITTMANN DOLL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1933 ATTORNE 5'Patented July 9, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 10 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in dolls and has for one of itsobjects to provide a drinking doll of simple and practical constructionwherein the hollow body thereof is made compressible to control theingress of a liquid into the same from a nursing bottle and in which anoutlet provided at a suitable place in the body permits of the slowegress of said liquid into a cloth or diaper to thereby simulate a humanfunction.

Another object is to provide a novel connection between the body andlimbs of the doll whereby said body is rendered liquid tight so that itcan be bathed and by means of which the limbs are permitted to have. anunusual degree of movement relative to said body.

Another object is to mount the head of the doll for limited turningmovement relative to the body thereof and to connect said elements insuch manner that the head will be securely held in position on the bodyand a water-tight joint effected therebetween.

A further object is to provide an improved nipple for a nursing bottlewhich will admit air to the latter so that liquid will flow therefrominto the dolls mouth and in which the admission of such air may becontrolled by altering the position of the nipple within the bottleneck.

The above and other objects will appear more clearly from the followingdetailed description when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the inventive idea.

In the drawings:--

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away in shown section, ofone form of doll constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the doll showing a slightlydifierent form of construction and indicating the doll in a recliningposition such as it would assume when drinking from a bottle.

, Figure 3 is a vertical section through the dolls head and the neckpiece of the body.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section through the dolls head.

Figures 5 and 6 are detailed sectional views illustrating differentforms of limb joints for the doll.

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view through an outlet valve for thedoll body.

Figure 8 is a similar view of an inlet valve controlling the flow ofliquid into said body.

As shown in Figure 1, the doll comprises a 4 side of a wall or partition28 in said recess.

body it, arms l6 and legs ll all of which are hollow and preferably madeof rubber, the arms and legs being practically air and liquid-tight dueto the nature of the connections for joining the same to the body l5.The latter is also liquid-tight and is adapted to be compressed and thenallowed to expand so as to create a suction within the body which willbe sufficient to draw a liquid from a nursing bottle into said body. InFigure 1 the entire body i5 constitutes a liquid receiving compartment,whereas in Figure 2 said body is divided intermediate its ends by apartition it which constitutes a liquid compartment ill in the lowerportion of said body. The head 20 of the doll may be made of anysuitable material and is provided with an opening for receiving the neckportion of the body I5, this portion being slightly tapered in order toobtain a close fit between the parts. The body I5 is closed at its neckend by a neck piece 2| which may also be made of rubber and which snuglyfits within said neck portion so as to constitute a partition betweenthe interior of the body and-head of the doll. The exterior surface ofthe piece M is provided with a circumierential bead 22 over which therubber neck portion of the body fits, thereby assisting in holding saidpiece in position and in rendering the body water-tight.

Means are provided for mounting and maintaining the head it upon thebody it for limited turning movement thereon and for further assistingin the retention of the neck piece 2i in proper relation to the adjacentportion of said body. Said means comprises a connecting member in theform of a yoke 23 suspended from a rod 24 the ends of which are embeddedin the sides of the head 20. Extending from said yoke in di-' vergingrelation to each other is a pair of resilient arms 25 each of which hasits free end 26 bent outwardly. When mounting the head 20 upon the bodythe arms 25 are pressed together and inserted into a recess 21 formed inthe neck piece 2 I, with one of said arms extending on each At the innerend of the latter, the same is enlarged to provide a channel of groove29 into which the ends 26 extend after the arms 25 have been fullyinserted into the recess 21 and released. By engaging in said channel,the ends 26 contact a wall thereof and thereby prevent withdrawal of thehead from the body and any tendency of said head to be displaced byreason of an outward pull thereon will tend to wedge the tapered neckpiece 2i more securely in the neck portion of the body. At the sametime, there is permitted a turning movement of the head upon the neckwhich is limited by contact of the arms 25 with the wall or partition26.

The drinking mechanism, forming one of the principal features of thepresent invention, comprises a mouth piece 30 made of rubber or anyother suitable material and mounted interiorly of the head 20 contiguousto the mouth opening 31 therein, said mouth piece being carried by astrip 32 having its ends embedded in the sides of said head as bestindicated in dotted lines in- Figure l. The mouth piece is provided withan opening 33 adapted to receive the nipple of a nursing bottle and saidopening communicates with one end of a flexible tubing 34 the other endof which is fitted over one end of a valve body 35 (Figure 8) which ismounted in a suitable opening formed in the neck piece 21 to one side ofthe recess 21 therein. In Figure l, in which the entire interior of thebody 15 forms the liquid compartment, the valve extends only partiallyinto said opening of the neck piece 2|, but in Figure 2 the inner end ofsaid valve is slightly extended and has joined thereto one end of aflexible tubing 36 the other end of which is extended through thepartition 18 so as to communicate with the compartment or chamber I9.The valve body 35 has a longitudinal duct 31 extending therethrough andthe flow of liquid through said duct is controlled by a ball valve 38locked in the end of the valve body adjacent that to which the tubing 34is connected, said ball valve being retained in the valve body bycrimping the latter slightly at its end as best shown in Figure 8. Thevalve 39 has a slight movement in the recess thus formed for it and whenthe valve is resting upon its seat the same only partially closes theduct 31, thus permitting the liquid flowing into the tube 34 from theopening 33 in the mouth piece to pass around said valve and into saidduct.

In practice, when the body 15 of Figure 1, or the portion of Figure 2thereof below the partition 18, is compressed and then allowed to expanda suction is created within the tube 34 which will draw liquid from anursing bottle 10 the nipple 1| of which has been inserted into thedolls mouth and said liquid will flow into the liquid chamber of thebody. An outlet is provided in the lower portion of the body 15 forpermitting the slow escape of the liquid in the compartment in said bodyand this outlet, as shown in Figure 7, comprises internally andexternally screw-threaded members 39 and 40, the screw-threaded shank ofthe latter member projecting through an opening 4| formed in the body I5with the portion of the latter surrounding said opening being clampedbetween said members. In the member 40 there is threaded an aperturedvalve seat 42 the opening through which is controlled by a small ballvalve 43 disposed within the member 39 and adapted to only partiallyclose said opening so as to permit of the slow egress of the liquid inthe body therethrough. When the body 15 is expanding after beingcompressed and the suction created by this operation is having thedesired effect of drawing the liquid from the nursing bottle into thebody, the ball valve 43 is drawn, by said suction, tightly against thevalve seat 44 in the member 39 so that air will not enter the bodyduring this suction operation. As soon, however, as the suction ceasesthe valve 43 assumes the position shown in Figure 7 and thus allows theslow passage of the liquid out of the body. This flow of the liquid maybe controlled to some extent by adjusting the valve seat 42 in themember 46.

The invention further comprises novel means for joining the arm 16 andlegs 11 to the body l5 so as to permit of movements of said limbsrelative to the body and at the same time render fluid-tight theconnections between said elements. As shown in Figure 1, the joint forthe arms is shown as comprising a socket 45 formed in the body I5 at theshoulder portion thereof and adapted to-receive the rounded inner end 46of the arm 16. The connecting element for joining the arm to the body ispreferably made of rubber and comprises a stem 41 having heads orenlargements 46 and 49 formed integrally with the ends thereof. The head46 is of concavoconvex formation and when assembling the body and armsaid head is flrst inserted through an opening 50 formed in the socket45 and of the same diameter as the stem 41. The concave surface of thehead 48 will then engage the inner convex surface of the socket 45.After the connecting element has been thus positioned the arm 16 ismounted thereon and for this purpose the rounded end 46 thereof isprovided with an opening of larger diameter than the stem 41 so as topermit of free movements of the arm about axes of said stem. Suchmovements are also aided by the tapered recess 52 which provides anannular space surrounding the stem 41. This space causes a portion ofthe head 49 to encircle said stem in spaced relation thereto and reducesthe thickness of the head so that the portion thereof projectinglaterally from the stem and having its outer edge in contact with therounded and 46 of the arm, will have a greater degree of flexibilitywhich will permit of an easier turning of the arm I6 relative to thehead to any desired position within its range of adjustment. Said recessalso, in effect, increases the length of the stem 41 over what it wouldbe if the space provided by the recess were filled in with a portion ofthe head 49, and such increase in length correspondingly adds to theflexibility of the stem. This increased flexibility of the stem and headaffords just the right amount of pressure of the head against therounded end 46 of the arm so that said arm may be easily adjusted to andmaintained in various positions, and at the same time effects a waterand air-tight connection between the body and arm. Also, any possibledistortion or bending of the stem, when the arm I6 is being adjusted,and the subsequent tendency of the stem to return to its normalposition, will not, by reason of the greater flexibility mentionedabove, have the effect of overcoming the friction between the parts 45,46 and 49 and the arm 16 will consequently remain in its adjustedposition until it is again forcibly turned to a difierent positionrelative to the head 49. The length of said stem extending between theheads 49 and 49 is such that when the connecting element is in theposition just described said stem is stretched slightly by reason of theinsertion of the rounded portion 46 of the arm between the socket 45 andsaid head 49 and, as a consequence, there is produced in the connectingelement a retractile action which causes the inner or adjacent surfacesof the heads 43 and 49 to conform to the contour of, and snugly engageagainst, the inner surfaces of the socket 45 and the rounded end 46 ofthe arm, thereby forming a fluid tight joint which will prevent theingress of air or water into the body and arm and also eliminate thepossibility of liquid within the body escaping through the joint. Inother words, the retractile action of the stem 41 actually compressesthe portions 45, 46 between the heads l8, 49 to efieot said fluid-tightjoint, but said compression is not of such a nature as to prevent movability of the arm l6. As a matter of fact, the connection affords aconsiderable degree of movability of the arm relative to the body in alldirections and in various planes, and the pressure of the heads 48, 49against the portions it, fie, caused by said steinii, creates frictionbetween the parts sufiicient to yieldably maintain the arm in any of thepositions which it is capable of assing.

The joint for the legs W, as shown in Figure 1, comprises a socketportion 53 adapted to receive the rounded end at of the leg H, and saidsocket portion has an opening 55 therein through which theconcave-convex head '56 is projected when mounting the connectingelement in position. The element, in this instance, is also providedwith a stem at having a flange 58 formed adjacent the free end thereof.Disposed between said flange and the inner surface of the rounded endiii of the leg is the head 59 provided with a tapered opening be throughwhich the stem 51 extends. In this instance also, the resilient stem iiiis slightly stretched when the connecting element is mounted in positionso that the retractile action of said stem will maintain the heads 56and 59 in intimate .contact with the respective surfaces engaged therebyand said fiange 58 will so engage the head 59 as to render the legfluidtight but, at the same time, permit of adjusting the leg to variouspositions relative to the body and the maintenance, by friction, of theleg in such positions.

In Figure 5, there is shown a slightly modified form of arm joint inwhich the resilient stem ti is formed integrally with the socket portion$2 of the body it and extends outwardly through the opening at of thearm iii. A head til within said arm is interposed between the innersurface thereof adjacent said opening t3 and the flange be formed uponthe stem, thereby being retained in position within the arm and actingin the same manner as the heads dd, as and 56, it to compress theadjacent body and limb portions therebetween and frictionally maintainthe latter portion in any of its adjusted positions.

The form of joint shown in Figure 6 also contemplates the resilient stem66 of the connecting element being formed integrally with the socketportion ti of the body and having the head 68, similar to the head td,made integrally with the end of said stem and adapted to be insertedthrough the opening so formed in the rounded end of the arm it so thatsaid head, due to the retractile action of said stem be, will haveintimate contact with the inner surface of the arm surrounding saidopening. As in the forms shown in Figures 5 and 6 and the leg connectionof Figure l, the recess provided in the heads of the connectingelements-all have the same function as specifically described above inconnection with the recess 52;

It will be understood that the various forms of joints used for thelimbs of the doll may also be employed in attaching separable ears tothe dolls head, if so desired.

What is claimed is:

I. In combination, relatively movable body and limb members one of whichis provided with an opening, a connecting element for said memberscomprising a stem of less diameter than said opening and capable ofextending therethrough in spaced relation to the edges of said opening,and a head on said stem insertable through said opening and contactingthe member in which the opening is formed.

2. In combination, relatively movable body and limb members one of whichis provided with an opening, a connecting element for said memberscomprising a stem of less diameter than said opening and capable ofextending therethrough in spaced relation to the edges of said opening,and a head. on said stem insertable through said opening and contactingthe memher in which the opening is formed, ,there being a recess formedbetween said stem and a portion of said head.

3. A connecting element for two parts of a doll body, said elementcomprising a resilient stem adapted to project through one of said partsand having a head on one end engageable with the latter part, therebeing a recess formed between said stem and head whereby a portion ofthe latter will encircle said stem in spaced relation thereto, t

d. A connecting element for two parts of a doll body, said elementcomprising a resilient stem adapted to projectthrough one of said partsand having a head at each end thereof, each head engaging'a surface ofone of said parts, and there being a recess formed between said stem andone of said heads into which said stem projects so that a portion of thelatter head will encircle said stem in spaced relation thereto.

5. In combination, body and limb members having interengaging surfaces,and a connecting element extending between said members and operable todraw said surfaces into intimate contact with each other, said-elementcomprising a resilient stem and an enlarged flexible head on at leastone end of said stem, said head having a. portion which extends towardthe other end of said stem in spaced encircling relation to the endthereof/at which the head is located.

6. In combination, body and limb members having interengaging surfacesat least one of which is provided with an opening, a molded unitaryconnecting element extending between said members and having a.resilient stem projecting through said opening in spaced relation to theedge of the member forming said opening, and a head on the steminsertable through said opening and engaging the inner surface of themember in which said opening is formed, the length of said stem beingsuch that the same is expanded to produce a retractile action when saidconnecting element is in operative position.

7.111 combination, body and limb members having relative movements, anda connecting element for said members having at least one head engagingan interior surface of one of said members, and further having aresilient stem which is expanded longitudinally when said members arejoined by said connecting element, said stem and head having a recessformed therebetween which spaces a portion of the latter in encirclinrelation to said stem.

8. In combination, hollow, air-tight body and limb members havinginterengaging surfaces, a connecting element extending between saidmembers and having enlargements at the ends thereof .engageable with theinner surfaces of said members, and further having a resilient memberjoining said enlargements and operable, by expansion of the lattermember, to compress between them the engaged portions of said bodytherebetween which annulariy spaces a portion of the latter inencircling relation to said stem.

10. In combination, a doll body member having a limb socket, a limbmember engaging in said socket, a connecting element for, movabiysupporting said limb on said body so that the former will have movementsin different planes relative to said body, said element being providedwith a head located in one of said members for contact with the surfacethereof opposed to that which engages the other of said members, andmeans connected to and operable upon said head to cause the latter tocompress the interengaging portions of said body and limb memberstogether, with sufiicient friction to yieldabiy 10 maintain the lattermember in any of its adjusted positions relative to said body member,there being a recess formed between said means and said head whereby aportion of the latter encircles said means in spaced relation thereto. l

MARIEWITTMANN.

